The Thief
by Second
Summary: Androssi-centric. If only someone had shown me food this scrumptious from the beginning. I'd have impaled every single Unni on this table just to eat this every day.


The first time I read Tower of God, there were two stories I immediately fell in love with. One was of Anak's family. The other was this.

Being a casual reader, I wasn't planning to write anything else for ToG. But hey, who am I to deny inspiration when it hits? The funny thing is that while writing this I was actually thinking a lot about Russia from Axis Powers Hetalia. The result, therefore, is a crazy psycho child Androssi... and a little bit of gore but hopefully not enough to warrant an M rating.

Unni means big sister in Korean.

Disclaimer: Tower of God belongs to SIU.

**S-C-N-D**

My earliest memory is by far the most hated. To be fair, after three hundred years, it's long been distorted beyond recognition. The smiling stranger who approached me now bears a twisted, wry grin. The warm hand that clutched my dainty fingers feels gnarled and unrelenting in the chilling recollection. And the household he brought me to, in hindsight, was only a little better than a dilapidated training ground.

Not that it mattered.

I, a small child, abandoned and homeless, became entranced the moment he tossed me a slice of stale bread.

"Little miss," he asked. "How would you like to become a Zahard Princess?"

**S-C-N-D**

The Thief

"So they brought another one in."

As I was escorted into the dining hall, I couldn't help but swallow a large lump in my throat. Never had I seen this many women congregated in one place, wearing such elaborate clothing. Eyes of every imaginable color glued to my small figure. These Misses had horns, scales, and even pointy elfin ears. None of them looked even remotely alike, so they couldn't be family.

I had thought that no one of different kinship could possibly form a strong bond. Even Zahard's affluent royal families weren't exempt, for they often fought each other for power and influence.

So why, then, were these people here?

"She's so small," an Unni whispered. She lifted a fork halfway to her mouth, but appeared to be staring at her food distastefully. "So they're picking them off the streets now, aren't they?"

Despite her condescension, the woman who spoke made eye contact with me as I walked past. Even as my escort nudged me forward, I tipped my head back, transfixed.

Smirking, she turned, straightening her back. What happened next completely puzzled me. Lifting the fork to her lips, the woman slowly and tantalizingly placed her food inside her mouth. Sharp, emerald eyes fixed on me as she dragged the fork out as slowly as she possibly could. With one last lick of the tines, she resumed chatter with her surrounding sisters.

I couldn't quite place my finger on it, but something about that action unsettled me greatly.

Still, I had just been given a home, clothes and food. Why should I let such a meaningless gesture get to my head? Maybe _that_ Unni didn't like me, but there were still plenty other Unnis who would be my friend, weren't there? Plenty of other Unnis sitting on this seemingly endless table…

No one else looked at me.

I wondered why.

**S-C-N-D**

My second day spent in that house, my first day spent on the battlefield finally made clear to me why the strange man picked me off the streets. As if time reversed, I was thrown right back into a violent, bloody world. The excessive extravagance, the comfort and grandiose I'd been presented was nothing but a veil for these ugly practices.

I did the only thing I was taught to. I ran.

What a joke it must have been to those woman. I could hear words in their disdained laughter and glares.

_How sad._

_What place does she have in our household?_

_What a cute little weakling!_

Just like that, I was the first one to be struck down. Rendered helpless. A human volleyball for the stalwart to play hot potato with.

It wasn't so bad after they were done with me. What woman would bother crippling someone who could never hope to defeat her from the beginning? Bloodied and battered, I crawled on top of another Unni's body to watch the rest of them duke it out.

There weren't any rules I was informed of, so I could only assume the same for the other Unnis. The difference in their battle styles was amazing. Some slashed wildly with their swords. Others used bare fists to knock their opponents cold. Then there was this tall blonde lady who barely moved since we were let in this place.

She was clearly the strongest in this battlefield. No one could get near her without being knocked back by violent waves of Shinsoo. I saw several Unnis teaming up on her, but she easily defeated them all with a sweep of her hand.

The amateurs were quickly eliminated, leaving the strongest warriors to battle for hours on end. The fewer contestants left, the bloodier their defeat. The green eyed Unni I saw on the first day was one of the remaining few. After defeating her opponent, she cruelly stepped on her head. So sickening was the crunch that I was almost certain her skull split in two.

With no intention to watch the rest of the battle, I ducked my head down and played dead. _Why do they have to fight?_ _Why can't we all just get along and share the food that's on the table?_

Eternity passed before the last body collapsed on the battlefield. The victor, the blonde woman, flipped her hair peevishly.

"Well done again." I heard the voice of the man who brought me to this hell. He handed her a towel which she used to wipe blood off of her clothes—not her own blood but the blood of her defeated subordinates.

"Humph," she scoffed, tossing the towel aside. "I'm sick of this tedious routine and half decent food. You told me I'd become a Zahard Princess if I entered this house."

All around me, feet scurried as maids carried away and tended to the Unnis' injured bodies. When I lifted, I realized how sore I'd been all these hours. It hurt so much just to have a finger tap against my skin.

"You know that the decision is ultimately Zahard's and not ours. We can pressure him with the main family, but—"

"I've been the victor every day for two months!" she cried. "If I don't receive a princess title soon, I swear I'll kill everyone sitting on that stupid table."

_Every day?_ We had to do this every day?

I resisted the urge to cry as I was carried into the dining hall.

Before long, the gentle arms dropped me onto cold tiles. The old maid tending to me looked tired and worn as she examined my arms and legs.

"No serious injuries," she concluded. "You're lucky to be so weak. The stronger ones near the head of the table nearly break a rib every day."

I spared a glance there and saw to my horror an Unni that had strips of flesh dangling off her elbow. She was half robed, her chest covered in bandages. Her maid tried to coerce her into putting on the other sleeve only to get a hiss and a loud slap in return.

"Ah, I pity the young'un tending to her. That'd be the last time she sits there," my maid observed calmly. "Her princess dreams are over. With an injury as serious as that, she's as good as dead tomorrow."

She dressed me in a long sleeved robe and held out a piece of bread.

"There's your dinner. Take care not to drop any crumbs on the floor."

With shaking hands, I took it from her. As I nibbled on it, I realized how coarse and dry my throat was.

"Um," I called out as she stood. "Can I please have some water?"

Now I was the one she directed her pitying glance at. Almost regretfully, she shook her head. "If you want water, you'll have to earn it like the rest of them."

**S-C-N-D**

I was weak.

I'd always known it, but by the fifth day, I realized that I was _really_ weak. I was always the first one to be knocked out, sometimes for the entire battle. But the few times I did recover enough to observe, I carefully studied my Unnis' fighting styles.

At least by doing that I could learn a thing or two about how to use those weapons they carried around. I hadn't much talent with Shinsoo, but anyone could stab another with a dagger or a sword. For the first week and half, I focused on stealth. If only I could get my hands on a weapon before getting knocked out. Maybe then I'd have a chance.

It wasn't like I wanted to become strong enough to crush the skulls of other Unnis. I just wanted to be able to get what I wanted when I wanted it. A little water with my food, just enough to rinse the salty taste of blood from my mouth. Was that really too much to ask for?

Apparently yes.

I was a fool for not realizing earlier. I learned the hard way when I asked an older Unni for a sip of her soup. She graced me with a glare icier than the Koon family. Suddenly, I turned from pathetic little helpless creature to Unni's own convenient rag doll punching bag.

From then on, she obsessively sought me out every day, twisted my limbs into a pretzel, beat me to the point where I could no longer stand.

Until one day, I somehow stole a weapon.

While hiding from one Unni, I ducked behind another and managed to snatch her dagger before she drew it. Delighted, I turned and pointed it at her. With this, I had at least some power. Finally, there might be a spot for me to sit on the table.

Unfortunately, I charged too rashly. The Unni I challenged was stronger in defense than she was in offense. On the other hand, my legs suddenly felt like they were caught in a web of thread. My stabs were too clumsy and uncouth. Before I knew it, another Unni landed a hard blow on the back of my head.

That was the longest, most humiliating fall of my childhood. Another night of coarse, stale bread. Another day of being chased and tortured by a bully I couldn't defeat. Why was it that _they_ could wield those hooks and needles with such grace? Why wasn't I lucky enough to be born with that talent?

For god's sake, they made it look so easy.

I rolled the pieces of bread in between my teeth, wetting them with saliva before somehow choking them down. That evening, a new girl was brought in, looking just as innocent and happy as I did when I first came. Poor girl had no idea what she was in for.

I scoffed at her naivety, knowing well how hypocritical it was of me to do so.

All I could think of was how to defeat her. Though she was a little bigger than me, maybe I could strike her down by catching her off guard. When she sat beside me, she peeked over shyly and tried to catch my eye. I glared back with all the hatred in the world.

I guess the head of the house liked to put the runts and weaklings together. For some reason, her room was next to mine. When we were sent up, she kept trying to make small talk.

"What floor did you come from?"

Like I even knew.

"What's your name?"

"We don't go by names here," I snorted. "We're nobodies."

It was true. I'd been here for several months and I still didn't know the names of any Unnis. I suppose they kept it that way so we wouldn't get attached. I hadn't heard of anyone who sat in that dining hall for longer than a year. Well, maybe one day one of our names would become renown throughout the tower, but so far, no luck.

Before she could utter another syllable, I slammed my door on her. If I wasn't getting good food, I was damn well going to get good sleep.

**S-C-N-D**

So began another day of hard training and humiliating losses. The new girl, surprise, managed to surpass me and get the last vacant spot on the table. She even had the audacity to apologize for defeating me. I hoped she could feel my eyes burn into the back of her head while she ate.

She gave me a puppy dog face, which I resisted the urge to scoff at.

Like the innocent act was going to do anything. Soon she'd become just as bloodthirsty as the rest of them.

I was right. In a matter of a few days, she ascended to the middle of the table. I was still dead last, but somewhat it wasn't as unsatisfying anymore. Sure these Unnis could keep up their pious attitudes. Sure they could look down on other women with lower scores. In the end, even the Unni that sitting at the head of the table remained invisible to all other entities in this tower.

Finding comfort in that thought, I suddenly became much less obsessed with beating the bigger Unnis.

By now I learned to hold my own, at least for the first few minutes of the battle. I didn't go down as easily as before and I certainly ceased to be everyone's punching bag. Stealing weapons was my forte, and even though it earned me quite a bit of resentment, I finally learned how to properly wield them.

Even the Unni that used to bully me was surprised when I struck her with a needle. The surprise was short lived, though. Soon I found myself running away from her again. While I remained the weakest of the household, she'd also slowly been ascending.

If she tried to twist my arm now, I might not ever relocate it again.

With her hot on my pursuit, I attacked everyone in my path. Secretly, I hoped that someone else pick a fight with her and distract her from this chase. However, in my experience, never once had _that_ fortune occurred. Such was the luck of weak little Miss Androssi.

Then I saw an Unni casting Shinsoo with her back turned toward me. She was busy fighting three opponents at once and didn't notice me coming at all. Apart from the strongest Unni, no one in this household could use more than one room of Shinsoo. As her wave of Shinsoo pushed back the other three, I struck her from the back.

I wasn't strong enough to knock her out in one blow. She turned around and pointed her staff at me, but I was quick and nimble. I scurried around her, lancing with my needle forward whenever I could. At times her Shinsoo blasts would so narrowly miss my body that I'd nearly freeze in panic, but I knew that as long as I kept moving, it would be hard for her to hit me.

After a long cat and mouse game, she finally collapsed from exhaust.

I could hardly believe it.

I _won_.

I grinned at the unconscious body, curled in fetal position in front of me. Another Unni quickly struck me down, but I couldn't stop grinning. What a rush! What adrenaline! I, who expected to quietly die before even sitting at the table, won against such a high-leveled Unni!

Lying next to my defeated opponent, I drummed my fingers against the floor pleasantly. How could I ever have been so wimpy and weak?

All along, I'd just been a slow bloomer.

I knew the truth now: I was the most special out of all of them. _That_ was why I was chosen to be taken into this family.

"Thank you, Unni," I whispered. The battle for food waged on while I deliriously hummed my own victorious melody.

**S-C-N-D**

My dish was golden, gloppy with a honey coloured sauce. For the first time in my life, I was given a knife and a fork. Unsure how to use these utensils, I looked to the Unni across from me and observed.

Rather jadedly, she sliced through her meat. When I copied her, it seemed like the most amazing thing I'd ever done in my life. The juices that seeped out made my heart pound with anticipation. I snuck another peak at the Unni. She stabbed her fork into her food. I poked mine in. She brought it into her mouth. I brought it into mine.

It was simply _lovely_. I was at a complete loss for words. I'd never tasted anything so delicious in my life. The sweet sauce swathed in my mouth, washed away even the _memory _of blood and dust. For the first time, I was given water with my meal, yet I had no desire to even touch the glass. Water and bread weren't enough, would never be enough again. If only someone had shown me food this scrumptious from the beginning. I'd have impaled every single Unni on this table just to eat this every day.

I scraped every piece of meat, every fleck of flour, every drop of sauce off of that plate. Even after completely devouring every morsel, I sucked on my fork until it tasted of nothing but metal.

_Not enough. I need more. I need…_

Clang.

The Unni sitting next to me accidentally tapped her fork into the plate. My eyes snapped over faster than the speed of light. Oh, how good her dish looked. How delicious that honey brown sauce was. Did it taste the same as mine? Was it different? Why, she had so much more meat than me. The colouring of her sauce was off. What if they added something I'd never tasted before? I really, _really_ wanted to reach over and snatch a slice of that strange looking vegetable off of her plate.

But then I lifted my eyes and saw the meal beyond hers. That one was even more colourful. That Unni had _two_ different sauces. The Unni next to her had a fried chicken drumstick. The Unni next to that Unni had a pie, and a scoop of ice cream.

I swallowed a nervous lump in my throat. My eyes drifted back to my own empty plate, only to slowly avert to the right, where a gleaming knife laid on a white napkin. My fingers itched to wrap around its handle.

_What if I steal every morsel of food from their plates? What if I killed them all right now?_

Everyone around me chattered obliviously as the cogs turned in my head. By the time the last Unni finished her food, I was almost trembling in my seat. I wondered what kind of food I'd get to taste tomorrow.

That night, I drummed my fingers against the night table, unable to sleep. So delicious. So, _so_ delicious.

_And it will be mine. It will all be _mine.

**S-C-N-D**

The Ranker let us all into the battlefield at the usual time. I didn't bother stealing a weapon this time. I didn't run. In fact, the first thing I did was confront the Unni who used to love twisting my limbs and clubbing my legs.

She sat five seats over from me yesterday, five meals better than mine. For that, she was a formidable opponent. I wouldn't bother challenging anyone with a meal less lavish than my own.

"Hi Unni."

At first nonplussed that I was approaching her instead of the other way around, she soon grinned smugly. She sprung at me, but I was faster and smaller. I struck her vital spots: lungs, stomach, heart, temple. She slashed my shoulder with her sword but it was a languid blow. A little pain amounted to nothing if I could have all the delicious food in the world.

I grabbed her arm and twisted it until I heard a sickening crack. Ah, Unni's limbs were also as flexible as a pretzel after all. Come to think of it, I'd never had a pretzel before. She had one on her plate yesterday. Ah, I _really_ wanted to know how it tasted.

She looked rather frightened under my grip. Her other arm made an attempt for the hilt of her sword. I was faster, of course. Unni collapsed quite quickly. She probably didn't even realize that I'd removed the sword from my shoulder and impaled it straight through her liver.

Well, that was okay.

I didn't care as long as I got to eat her delicious food.

Oh, but what I wouldn't give to eat two meals tonight! Actually, I wanted a little bit of everything. But the Unnis are so mean. They would never share their food with me. It wasn't my fault. She didn't have to die. If only she was generous enough to let me drink her soup when I'd asked.

Now, how many more Unnis were there left for me to steal food from?

**S-C-N-D**

I decided I didn't like pretzels. They were quite bland. Mushroom soup wasn't all that great either. Why couldn't I get more steel eel? The middle half of the table was already empty and I only got four steel eel dishes. And here I thought that these Unnis would have so much more delicious food. Everything turned tasteless after two, three days. I needed more choices.

I stared obsessively at the blonde woman sitting at the head of the table. Anything she wanted, she got. She even had dishes especially made for her. If she didn't want steel eel, they'd take it away. If she only wanted steel eel, they'd serve it to her in fifty different sauces.

That night, I had a dream where I sat in that spot. Every chair was empty except for mine. The entire table was covered in food, exotic food from every floor of the tower, even Zahard's palace itself.

Well, that settled it. Everything would be mine.

Another day passed. Another bunch of Unnis died. I wanted to defeat everyone but the emerald eyed Unni who was so cruel to me when I first came. I wanted to watch her squirm with her insipid food while I dangled exquisite dishes in front of her.

Too bad she died rather quickly.

**S-C-N-D**

Well, it was just me and the blonde Unni left in the entire table. Perhaps they couldn't adopt orphans fast enough to replace the casualties. The head of our family was rather pleased with me. He seemed certain that I would become the next Zahard Princess.

Well, maybe it'd be nice to finally get out of this irritating house. After all, it was rather suffocating with us two left at the table. Perhaps one day I might actually try to climb the tower for once. They say everything can be found at the top.

Unni was stabbing her food rather venomously. I think she meant to project her hatred toward me. But in hindsight, I guess it'd be hard to remain calm in the presence of someone, knowing she'd decapitate you the next day—not that I'd know anything about that. It's been three hundred years since I was last roughed up.

Being a Zahard Princess does have its perks after all. Who knew?

And that steel eel… it really was delicious.

**S-C-N-D**

At the time of reminiscence, Androssi was preparing to enter the tower. Ah, she was so cute as a child. I wrote the beginning with Baam in mind because she mentioned that she was once like him. Somewhere halfway, she mentally snapped. :P

Now what genre do I put this under...

Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!

-SCND


End file.
